FCC to sanction Comcast for slowing net traffic

By eSchool News

July 28th, 2008

A majority of the members of the Federal Communications Commission have decided to sanction Comcast for slowing peer-to-peer traffic, reports Online Media Daily. The FCC’s two Democrats, Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein, agree with chair Kevin Martin that Comcast’s traffic-shaping techniques violated net neutrality principles, according to press reports. The five-member commission is expected to issue a ruling on Friday.
The cable company admitted it slowed some peer-to-peer traffic, but said it did so on a very limited basis and solely to manage congestion on its network. The company also argued that the FCC has no jurisdiction to enforce net neutrality principles on the theory that such principles are not enshrined in law…